During the Middle Ages, the Roman church had its share of troubles converting the “heathen” (which means person of the heath, or country person) to Christianity. As a result, they fabricated a great many lies about Pagan beliefs and practices, many of which persist to this day. The irony is that many of the people who believe such lies today belong to fundamentalist Protestant faiths and would not give Roman Catholics the time of day – but it is always easier to believe a piece of gossip when it’s juicy. And for sheer creativity, we have to offer the Romans a huge literary prize.

Do Wiccans worship Satan?

No. We do not believe in an evil deity of any kind, and we would not worship one if we did. Satanism is a perversion of Christian beliefs and has nothing whatsoever to do with Wicca.

Do Wiccans sacrifice animals?

I don’t know why this one keeps on cropping up. In 30+ years as a practicing Witch, I have led many circles and visited many others. The most sentient thing I have ever seen sacrificed in any ritual was an ear of corn thrown into the fire at Lugnasadh.

As a typical rule, Wiccans are animal lovers. We tend to be up to our collective butts in pampered pets – and because nearly all pets are sentient, we feel that animals have souls and this confers a responsibility upon us for the animal’s physical and emotional welfare. 

Perhaps a part of this misunderstanding comes from the belief – held by some, but not all, Witches – that hunting is a part of the natural life intended for us by our God and Goddess. With hunting, however, comes several responsibilities:

• We are responsible for providing a quick and clean death for the animal we hunt.
• We are responsible for respecting the value of the life that we take. This means that every part of the animal should be used – the meat should be eaten, the hide used, etc.

Cruelty has no part in hunting for us. Nor is killing an activity that we enjoy – although we certainly do enjoy the camping, etc., that may go along with it. Some of us merely consider hunting necessary to maintain long chain protein levels and a healthy body. Whether we forego meat in our diets and attempt to make up protein levels elsewhere, purchase our meat from a store, or hunt it ourselves, it is very much a personal decision.

What’s with all the weapons? Aren’t you all pacifists?

Witches have an affinity for blades, usually knives and swords. These, however, are tools for channeling power and are not considered weapons. To use such a tool in anger defiles it.

And no, we are not all pacifists, by any means. I most certainly am not. I carry a .45, and I know how to use it. I may even carry a knife or two as weapons from time to time. However, they would not be the same knives that I used ritually. Some Witches are certainly pacifists, but they would also be likely to own and use knives ritually.

Swords are coven tools, more likely to be owned by a group of Witches than by a single, solitary Witch.

Witches want to steal your babies.

I have to stop laughing before I can answer this! 

Honestly, my first inclination is to ask why in the world we would ever want the children of mental defectives.

No, we do not sacrifice children. We do not indoctrinate children either. And any coven willing to offer instruction to a teenager before they reach the age of legal majority has a collective death wish. 

We do not proselytize. Period. Not ever. We don’t do it for a very simple reason. We are not so arrogant as to believe we have the only path to enlightenment. Right for me and right for you could be two very different things. So if you want to learn about Wicca from me, you are going to have to convince me a) that you really want to know, and also b) that this path is right for you. 

Much to the disappointment of those who would like to demonize us, most of my fellow Witches feel the same way.

Witches are mentally ill and claim supernatural powers.

The only powers claimed by Wiccans are entirely natural. We are not “special” or “specially talented” in any way that the rest of Humanity is not. Read the page devoted to magic for more information on this.

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